Michael Thurmond a man of good sense

Posted: Wednesday, March 17, 1999

This is a busy time for Michael Thurmond, still getting acclimated in his new job as state labor commissioner - a position many of his friends felt he would not be likely to achieve in a statewide political race.

LoranSmith

A man of quiet passion who subdues anger and short-sightedness, Thurmond is likely to move on up in the state political hierarchy mainly because he truly wants to serve and because he has staying power. He is self-motivated but not motivated for self. He is certainly not a misguided politician. And when a crisis develops in his life, he returns to his Sandy Creek habitat and embraces the solitude of his favorite oak tree. There he can think clearly, economically and objectively.

"Under that old oak, I feel close to nature. I feel close to God," Thurmond says. "Growing up, I spent a lot of time under that oak meditating and making plans for my life, and I still go back to that tree when I can."

Sitting under that tree a few months ago, he reasoned that he could win a statewide election - something that no black person had ever done in this state since Reconstruction. But he and Thurbert Baker (elected attorney general last fall) both made history. But it is not history that Thurmond is concerned about. That is nice, but what he wants to be remembered for is making progress.

That is why the program he created at the Division of Family and Children Services, Workfirst, moved 50,000 welfare-dependent families into the work force ahead of schedule while saving the state $200 million. Thurmond saw to it that this savings was invested in child care and other support services designed to ensure the successful transition of families from dependency to self-sufficiency.

Thurmond says pointedly that the problem in our society is the many young black men who don't have jobs.

"The black kids who are working have the same crime rate as white kids. If we could cut the prison rolls by 25 percent, think of the millions we would save and could invest into productive programs for young people," Thurmond says.

His parents taught him there is dignity in work.

"All work is honorable," he says, "and has benefits beyond a check. I learned that from my parents when I was growing up."

His parents also expected him to work at school. Homework came easy for him because he wanted to learn. He had an interest in many subjects and developed a passion for sports.

Thurmond loved football and wanted to be inside Sanford Stadium when the Bulldogs kicked off on Saturday afternoon. The only way was to sell Cokes, which he did happily but confesses that at the exciting peaks in a big game, he often sat his Coca-Cola rack down and watched the game.

If he could have, he would have traded his carrier tray for a uniform. For Thurmond, being a part of the action has always been his objective in life. But if selling Cokes was the only way he could be involved, he would take the best option available to him and he would sell those Cokes with a broad smile.

Football was important to him. He played left halfback and Horace King, who played nine years in the National Football League, was the right halfback at old Burney Harris High School. When integration came about, Thurmond was designated as the black representative for the new team, the Clarke Central Gladiators. And who was the white representative? Athens' new mayor, Doc Eldridge.

When high school was over, Thurmond, a small and wiry type, watched with great envy as teammates King, Richard Appleby and Clarence Pope signed on to play for the Bulldogs. Since that was not going to happen for him, Thurmond decided to leave town, understanding that he could not be a part of those Saturday afternoons. So he went away, enrolling at Paine College in Augusta, where he got a degree in philosophy and religion.

But now, he returns to Sanford Stadium with a big grin. Often he sits in the President's Box and reflects back to his high school years.

"Honestly," he notes, "when I am there (Sanford Stadium), I am amazed that I am where I am."

The progress society has made in those years made him realize that he could win a statewide political race.

The youngest of nine children, Thurmond often thinks about his late father, who never met a stranger.

"He was always pleasant and cheerful," Thurmond says. "He truly enjoyed people and I learned so much from him. He had all the skills of a politician. I miss him very much."

After obtaining his undergraduate degree at Paine, Thurmond decided to enter law school and enrolled at South Carolina. But when he finished there he knew where he wanted to begin practice. He returned home to Athens, but practicing law was not enough. He wanted to be involved in his community. He didn't look back, he looked ahead.

He served as assistant city attorney and became a member of a number of local boards, including the board of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce. In 1986, he became the first African American elected to the Georgia House of Representatives from Clarke County since Reconstruction, and the only African American elected from a majority white district in Georgia.

Because of his parents' training, Thurmond learned to look at life on the positive side. He came through the integration of the Clarke County School System and could have let bitterness sway him.

Not only did that not happen, he reached out to blacks and whites alike.

Michael Thurmond is a man of good sense. He enjoys his many friends. He is both big hearted and good hearted.